By Ella Wong

(Almost) everything you need to know in one handy acrostic poem

Some fruit bats have recently come to nest at Renaissance College. I don’t know where exactly they are nesting, but I assume they are somewhere in a tree. Here are some facts about bats so you know how to give them a warm welcome!

Bat blindness is a myth.

There is a common saying to describe people who cannot see: “blind as a bat.” 

The bats nesting at RCHK are of the fruit bat species. While some species of bats rely on echolocation to find food and see, fruit bats do not.

Instead, they depend on their sight (which is excellent, by the way) and smell to find food. There are many different types of bats, and for this reason, they all eat different foods. Some eat small insects, some eat small fish, and some eat fruit.

As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, fruit bats eat fruit. They also eat nectar and pollen from flowers. Some bats, like the lesser long-nosed bat, feed on pollinate cacti and agave flowers.

Averages of the fruit bat

• The average lifespan of a fruit bat is about thirty years.

• Fruit bats usually give birth to one pup at a time.

• Fruit bats can fly at speeds ranging from approximately 19-50 kilometres per hour.

T for pteropodidae!

The “p” in pteropodidae is silent, so when said aloud, it sounds like it begins with a “t”, like in “pterodactyl”. It’s not really correct to say that it starts with a “t”, but it’s close enough!

Pteropodidae is the scientific name for fruit bats. There are many types of fruit bats, including:

• The Egyptian Fruit Bat, which, interestingly, does not live in Egypt but in Africa, India, and Pakistan.

• The Large Flying Fox, the Indian Flying Fox, the Black Flying Fox, and several other Flying Foxes, none of which are actually foxes.

• Bulmer’s Fruit Bat, which was thought to be extinct because it was first found fossilized in a cave. It, however, has since been rediscovered in New Guinea!

Sleeping upside down

I can only think of three scenarios where humans would need to sleep upside down: 

1. They are participating in a scientific experiment.

2. A group of children think sleeping upside down will be fun while their parents try to convince them not to do it.

3. They are doing something secret and would not like to tell you.

Bats rest upside-down for none of these reasons. Bats sleep upside-down because, unlike birds, they can’t take off from the ground. Their wings just aren’t equipped to do the job. 

You might wonder why the bat doesn’t do what I did back when I was trying to learn how to fly (although in vain): take a running leap. That doesn’t work either — the bat still can’t do it. (Humans can’t either, if you were wondering. I am living proof.)

Being upside down helps them take off so they can glide peacefully through the air. If a bat finds itself in any sudden danger when it wakes up, it can quickly fly away from its upside-down position.

Well, that’s the end of our BATS lesson! I hope you learned some new things here — you’re well on your way to becoming a bat expert!